Simplifying access to European Structural and Investment Funds

The European Commission announced on 9 June its intention to create a High Level Group on simplification. Its aim is to reduce the administrative burden for beneficiaries to access the five European Structural and Investment Funds– the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

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The group is to independently assess and monitor the uptake of
simplification opportunities to access and use European Structural and
Investment Funds by the Member States, thus contributing to the
Commission's efforts for Better Regulation.

Former
Commission Vice President Siim Kallas will chair this group which is
planned to run for three years. The members of the group should include
the best available experts in the field. Special focus is to be put on
five priorities:

1. Facilitating access to funding for SMEs

2.
Tacklingthe "Goldplating" practice, where extra requirements or
administrative hurdles are added at national or regional level, including
in the process of selecting projects.

3. Using simpler ways to reimburse costs.

4. Increasing the use of online procedures, such as "e-cohesion" in Cohesion Policy funded projects

5. Analysing how projects initiated and managed by local communities are implemented (community-led local development)

Furthermore,
the group is to make recommendations to improve the implementation of
simplification measures on the way forward for post-2020.

This
High Level Group on simplification is part of a broader initiative to
improve how Member States and regions invest and manage EU Cohesion
Policy funds, set by Commissioner Corina Creţu and the
Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy.

This
four-pronged initiative aims to help Member States effectively use the
remaining investments from the 2007-2013 programming period through the Task Force on Better Implementation.
It also focuses on helping building administrative capacity in Member
States and regions, on reducing territorial disparities and helping
slower growth regions to catch up and finally, on assessing the uptake
of simplification measures and identifying further possibilities to
simplify rules. It is in line with the Commission's initiative for an
"EU budget focused on results", which aims to ensure that EU funds are
spent in an effective manner and bring a real change for EU citizens.

Moreover,
as stated repeatedly by the European Court of Auditors in its annual
reports, the use of simplified procedures reduces substantially the risk
of errors and therefore generates savings for the control authorities
and increases certainty for the beneficiaries.